Ohemone ran across the hall, his boots creating echoing thumps as he stopped at the next parted metal gate. He leaned his face through the small gap. His shoulder-light produced clawing shadows from the broken walls and floors of the next corridor. He then signaled with two fingers to move forward. His eyes scrunched down as he looked back to Adalae and Orimi leisurely walking side by side.

“So you were a V-Idol before you became a Patroller? I thought I’d seen you somewhere, though I don’t really understand why you’d want to change to a job like this.”

Orimi smiled with interlocked fingers in front of her stomach. “It’s a… long story... But it’s been really great stepping away from the stage for a while. I’ve met tons of new people and—“

Ohemone leaned his back on the wall, crossing his arms with a sigh. “No, please, don’t stop on my accord. It’s not like we’re on a foreign ship with a defense system that could turn on at a moment’s notice.”

“I-I apologize,” Orimi said with a gentle laugh. “When I’m nervous, it just helps for me to talk.”

Adalae nodded. “Yeah, I’m the same… And you have nothing to apologize for. My yeasur is always this serious.”

Ohemone rolled his eyes, then slid through the next gate. “Whatever. Don’t forget that your new friend is a Patroller.”

Adalae and Orimi exchanged glances. They then giggled with hands up to their mouths.

“Wait… WAIT! STOP!” Ohemone beckoned past the parted hatch.

Adalae, halfway past the door, looked at Ohemone, taking a step back. She then pushed through and walked over to his side.

“What’s wrong? I’ve already seen a dead person, so I don’t think it can get… any… worse…”

In an instant, she gasped, as the pungent air clung to her throat and wouldn’t let go. The acridity of the smoldering burnt cleaved marks on the walls and floors, along with the foul-rancid stench permeating further beyond, made her eyes water. Like a dense fog, black-hot smoke stood in the room, barely making the entire scene visible.

Ohemone's eyes twitched. He then scrunched his nose and spun around, dragging his cutter from his jacket and pointing it at Orimi. Unnerved, or perhaps even unknowing, she stood completely still, except for her left hand trembling in a balled fist.

Ohemone looked into her eyes, tinged with fear as a single glistening tear glided down her cheek. He then sighed and put his cutter back into his holster.

“I’m assuming you don’t know who did this, Patroller.”

Orimi slumped to the ground, the glimmer of pink in her eyes now dulled as she slowly widened them. Adalae gazed down at her and wiped a tear at the side of her face.

Ohemone coughed and squinted as the smoke consumed his lungs and vision. He leaned against the wall and glanced at a silver door.

“T-there… Koff… We need to… Koff… Go there…” Ohemone murmured between sputters and gasps.

Adalae bent down and pulled Orimi’s arm over her shoulder.

Orimi shook her head with a soft whimper. “I… I can’t…”

“Vasaforh…” Adalae cursed while continuing to hold Orimi up. “Hey! Y-you’re supposed to be the Patroller here… I’m scared too, alright, but… We can’t just stay here or we’ll suffocate, so let’s go!”

The author's narrative has been misappropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon.

Adalae gripped Orimi’s hand and guided her toward the leftmost wall. They then followed Ohemone as he inputted the final sequence on the door panel and it shot open. All three of them then collapsed, sputtering and coughing as the door slammed shut.

The room was a small maintenance space with spiraling compartments filled with metal tools and synthesizer builds. A few pods of boiling green and red liquids bubbled on the walls in their respective cubicles, leading to a small white cube lying flat on a metal table in the middle of the room.

Ohemone shook his head and walked over to the synthesizer table. He placed his hand on the bluish gel-like button and, with a gentle squish, a metal workbench flipped over with a white holographic interface. The synthesizer gleamed with a blue alloy that dimmed to a dark lavender whenever Ohemone pressed a key on the holographic keyboard. After a few inserts, the synthesizer hummed, lowered a glass hatch over itself, and began cutting into a black mush with metal sparks flying in the small enclosure.

“I’ll synthesize some gas covers for us so we can continue going down… That… Well, whatever happened there.”

Adalae looked up to Ohemone, then walked over to a floating white mesh chair and took a seat. She then leaned her head onto the backrest and closed her eyes. Standing up, Orimi walked towards a table in the center of the room, where a white cube was placed. She then poked it with a distant stare and sighed.

Ohemone leaned his back on the working machine and glanced over to Orimi. “I’m, uh, sorry… that I grouped you with the rest of the Patrollers. You seem a lot more normal. It’s refreshing.”

Orimi attempted to smile but shrugged while continuing to tap the box. Adalae squinted her eyes at the ceiling, then crossed her legs with a groan.

“Those were bodies at the end of the hall, weren’t they…?”

Ohemone nodded. “Yeah…”

Adalae leaned up in her chair and narrowed her eyes. “Did you and the rest of the Insurgency have something to do with this?”

“What…? N-no! Of course not!” Ohemone said. “Look, we’re only here for a trade, alright. Eofaniya is known to be in some shady stuff, so who knows who they might’ve pissed off.”

“Trade? Trade what exactly?”

“Well, it’s… it’s better if you don’t know…”

“It’s better, huh,” Adalae scoffed. “It’s always secrets between you and mader. Sseyonoiya ecupret.”

Ohemone opened his mouth but clenched his teeth. Adalae widened her eyes, then turned away.

“Fine then. Keep your secrets. Not like I was ever a part of the family anyway.”

“It’s not like that, Ad. You’re just going to have to believe me when I say—“

Orimi jumped back as the white cube began to bounce and jitter. Its surface lost its gleam and dulled down to a stone-like texture while its exterior churned and twisted into smaller blocks like a Rubik’s cube.

“What did you do?” Ohemone beckoned.

“I-I didn’t do anything!” Orimi said while taking another step back. “I just touched it a bit!”

The white blocks, previously serving as a shell, collapsed onto the table, gradually uncovering a shining rectangular mass in a vibrant shade of blue, resembling an oily sheen. The spongy surface rippled as various dark pink and lavender circles and symbols slid across its transparent surface.

Adalae attempted to get up from her seat but halted as the lump shook and vibrated like jelly. Ohemone lowered his flattened hand, causing her to crouch back down.

The block then began expelling high-pitched squeaks, beeps, and low hums. Orimi took a step forward, her eyes shining above the gleaming cube’s surface.

Ohemone shook his head. However, Orimi ignored him and glanced back at the foreign object.

“You’re trying to communicate. Aren’t you?” Orimi said.

“Coouuum... muun...”

Ohemone attempted to swallow away the dryness resting in his throat. His eyes then widened.

“That couldn’t be...”

A short screech etched through the room as the synthesizer finished its construction process with a crunch, then opened its glass hatch with a puff of vapor.

Adalae leaped from her seat and began frantically searching the floor with her eyes.

“It’s... It’s gone!”

“What’s...” Ohemone, remembering the reasoning behind his stillness, looked back at the table.

Orimi looked down at her Proatrix wristwatch. Despite its once slim, white shade, it was now a lavender with three pink balls bouncing around the glass screen.

The Proatrix then began to hum and buzz; Its small metallic covering reaching out as if wanting to break free.

“Orimi!”

She locked eyes with Ohemone, him and Adalae standing near the door with their clear-blue respirator masks already wrapped around their face and neck.

“I don’t know what that thing was, but I’m not risking finding out. We’re leaving!”

Orimi nodded, hiding her arm behind her back.